Glen Falls Post-Star: A Green Side to Everything: Recycling Paint
Filed under: Earth 911 - March 20, 2008
By Wendy Baird
I really like to paint; the immediate gratification of transforming a room suits my impatient personality. But what I hate is the cans of leftover paint clutter our garage and often morph into a thickened glop that couldn’t possibly be used again.
At the request of a reader, I began searching for ways to recycle paint, which New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation deems “Household Hazardous Waste.”
The best thing is to buy the exact amount of paint needed so there are no leftovers to dispose of. Obviously, that’s not always possible, although if you habitually overestimate, you might try this online tool to calculate the amount of paint you need.
Finding another spot to use up the leftover paint is another good option. Perhaps the color would be brighter and more durable with a second or third coat applied to the walls. Maybe you have enough left over to brighten up a closet? Leftover paint in a light color might make a good base coat if you are changing from a particularly dark color in another painting project.
Donating the paint to someone who can use it is better for the environment and good for your karma! When I coached an Odyssey of the Mind team a few years ago, we were always grateful for small quantities of leftover household paint to use on props. Likewise, drama clubs, scouting groups and other organizations are often looking for paint to decorate scenery or parade floats. If you have a substantial amount, like a half a can or more, you could check with Habitat for Humanity to see if they could use it for a new home. Or check with local churches and synagogues, who might know of someone who needs paint to spruce up an apartment or home.
You can mix paints, assuming it is the same kind (don’t, for example, mix oil-based with water based or interior with exterior). Especially if you have a job that requires a brown or a grey (which is usually the result of mixing colors!) you might try mixing a few of your leftover paints. A friend had a bunch of leftover exterior paints and mixed them together and was able to paint a small shed with the resulting grey mixture.
Reprocessed (leftover paints mixed with new materials) and re-blended paints (paints made totally from leftover paints) use a manufacturing process which could theoretically use your leftover paints. But I searched through Earth 911 and was unable to find any local organization that accepts paint for this purpose. I did find The Chittenden Solid Waste District in Vermont that sells (cheap!) re-blended latex paint, but their Web site says the paint drop-off is limited to residents of the district. Engineers at Rutgers University have developed a method of recycling leftover household latex paint with plastics to form a more flexible and tough plastic, but it’s still in the developmental stage.
If, in the end, you need to dispose of leftover paint, the DEC has some recommendations. First, dry it up. You can do this by placing it (lid removed) outside in a spot where animals cannot reach it. If the paint doesn’t seem to be drying, you can add cat litter to absorb the liquids. Next, place the paint in a plastic-lined box with the lid removed, in your household trash.